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German army can lease arms-capable Israeli drones, lawmakers say

Germany's army is set to fly arms-capable Heron drones for the first time in history, after a parliamentary committee approved leasing the aircraft from Israel. The project would cost Germany over $1 billion.

Lawmakers in the Bundestag's budget committee backed leasing a fleet of Israeli-made Heron-TP drones on Wednesday, allowing the German army to operate drones capable of carrying missiles for the first time.

The German army already flies its own small drones, as well as Israel's middle-sized Heron 1 surveillance aircraft in countries such as Mali and Afghanistan. With a wingspan of 16.6 meters (54 feet 5 inches), however, Heron 1 is too small to be equipped with weapons.

On Wednesday, the committee earmarked €895 million ($1.05 billion) to lease the more advanced Heron-TP model, which boasts a wingspan of 26 meters and can be used as an attack aircraft. The drones will be leased from Israel Aerospace Industries.

Heron TP is capable of 36 hours of continuous flight and can reach an altitude pf 12,500 meters (41,000 feet)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision. "This enormous deal is emblematic of the strategic partnership between Germany and Israel," he wrote on Twitter. "And it is proof of what Israel's industry can produce for countries such as Germany."

'Farce' or serious debate on arming drones

Many German voters vehemently oppose the extrajudicial drone killings conducted by the armies of their allies such as the US, and the German government is wary of this strong criticism.

For this reason, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) opposed the initiative to lease arms-capable drones during last year's election campaign. Eventually, the SPD, in the agreement made with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats to form a grand coalition government, agreed to the move on the condition that actually putting weapons on drones was not part of the deal. This step would need to be approved after a comprehensive evaluation.